1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates generally to a rotary switch apparatus for setting the wash cycle on an automatic washing machine, and more specifically to a cycle selector with cycle data arranged in a circular fashion around the rotary switch on an indicator field of the control panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Rotary switches of the type described above have become known on automatic washing machines under the term "single-dial control". Such a control is used to preset all the washing factors, by means of a single control element. The temperature is determined for each wash cycle and is assigned to the corresponding cycle as a fixed temperature stage. A disadvantage of these so-called single-dial machines is that on account of the great variety of fabrics currently on the market, such a rigid cycle configuration no longer necessarily satifies all the washing requirements. Therefore, there has been a recent trend toward multi-button operation, in which there is a separate temperature selector. Using such a system, each wash cycle can then be run individually with a different temperature. An inherent disadvantage of such a system, however, is that the setting of the corrent temperature can frequently be overlooked, or an improper temperature can be set, as a result of which certain types of items can be washed at improper temperatures.
Some examples of prior art automatic washing machines are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,565, entitled "Automatic Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,130, entitled "Automatic Washing Machine and Method for Operating Same", U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,588, entitled "Automatic Clothes Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,693, entitled "Belt Drive Mechanism for Automatic Clothes Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,911, entitled "Programmer Control Device"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,303, entitled "Washing Machine Tub Construction"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,081, entitled "Water Temperature Control System for a Clothes Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,760, entitled "Vane Arrangement for Clothes Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,275, entitled "Agitator Mechansim for Clothes Washing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,409, entitled "Clothes Washing Machine" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,412, entitled "Clothes Washing Machine and Method of Washing Clothes", all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if the contents thereof were fully set forth in their entirety herein.